Excerpts: Hamas rejects recognizing Israel. Gaza Islamic Jihad Al-Quds =

Brigades courts supporters May 04, 2014

+++SOURCE:Naharnet (Lebanon) 4 May =9214:=94Hamas Won=92t Recognize Israel,=
Accept =

Quartet Terms=94, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Hamas rejects recognizing Israel
QUOTE:=94Hamas deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouq said Hamas . . .would never =

agree to recognize Israel=94
FULL TEXT:Hamas will never recognize Israel and will not accept the =

conditions laid out by the Middle East peacemaking Quartet, according to th=
e =

Islamist movement's deputy leader.

Speaking late on Saturday[3 May], Moussa Abu Marzouq said Hamas, which =

recently signed a reconciliation deal with the Western-backed Palestinian =

leadership in the occupied West Bank, would never agree to recognize Israel.

"We will not recognize the Zionist entity," he said at a press conference i=
n =

Gaza City.

Under terms of the deal, Gaza's Hamas rulers and the Palestine Liberation =

Organization of President Mahmoud Abbas are to work together to form a new =

unity government which will prepare for national elections.

But Israel reacted furiously, saying it would not negotiate with any =

government backed by Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of the =

Jewish state, effectively putting the final nail in the coffin of the lates=
t =

round of U.S.-brokered peace talks.

Recognizing Israel is one of the key conditions laid out in the 2003 =

peacemaking roadmap of the Middle East Quartet, which brings together the =

United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.

The other two key demands are a renunciation of violence and acceptance of =

all prior agreements with Israel.

Abbas, who is to head the new government, to consist of political =

independents, has insisted it will abide by all three principles.

But Abu Marzouq said Hamas would never accept the Quartet's conditions.

"Hamas rejects the Quartet's conditions because it denies some of our peopl=
e=92s =

rights," he told reporters."We will always refuse any conditions that deny =

our Palestinian rights."

He also said the question of disarming Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedine =

al-Qassam Brigades, was "never mentioned" in talks with the PLO since the =

unity deal was inked on April 23. "No one asked to discuss this," he said.

Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior member of Abbas' Fatah movement, which dominates =

the PLO, was to arrive in Gaza City on Sunday or Monday to begin =

consultations on forming the new government, he said."This will be a =

national consensus government that has nothing to do with politics and has =

specific tasks," he said of the preparations for long-overdue local, =

parliamentary and presidential elections.

Hamas would participate in both the municipal and legislative elections but =

has not yet decided whether it will run a presidential candidate.Hamas won =
a =

landslide victory in the last

+++Islamic Jihad Gains New Traction in Gaza
By JODI RUDORENMAY 3, 2014

SUBJECT:Gaza Islamic Jihad Al-Quds Brigades court supporters

QUOTE:=94Smaller and less known internationally than the militant Islamic =

Hamas faction that has ruled since 2007 . . .it is backed by Iranian funds=
=94

FULL TEXT: GAZA =97 Shortly before midnight, seven black-masked young men =
in =

camouflage stood in a field of waist-high weeds, Kalashnikov rifles pointed =

toward the Mediterranean Sea a half-mile away.

No Israeli soldier has set foot in Gaza City in five years, but the =

25-year-old commander of this band of Al-Quds Brigades =97 the armed wing o=
f =

Islamic Jihad =97 said his troops stand vigil here nightly to =93protect th=
e =

Palestinian people=94 from any =93incursion.=94 Every few minutes, in what =
may =

have been a nightly ritual or an effort to broadcast to the world their =

readiness to fight, the radio on the commander=92s shoulder crackled with =

warnings: drones in the east, F-16s overhead, gunboat movement at sea.

=93You are the men; you, the Al-Quds Brigades, are the real men,=94 the voi=
ce =

said after reciting verses from the Quran praising jihadist militants and =

martyrs. =93God protect you in the field.=94

Smaller and less known internationally than the militant Islamic Hamas =

faction that has ruled since 2007, Islamic Jihad and its Al-Quds Brigades =

are having something of a renaissance. Last month the group captured global =

headlines by firing a barrage of 100 rockets toward Israel in less than an =

hour. Polls show that support for Islamic Jihad among residents of Gaza =

remains far below that of the leading political factions but has seen an =

uptick as the group has lately built health clinics, opened schools, and =

expanded its family-mediation services.

Though not a signatory to the reconciliation pact last month between Hamas =

and the Palestine Liberation Organization, Islamic Jihad would join Hamas a=
s =

part of the formal Palestinian leadership if the deal were implemented. At =

the same time, Egypt recently allowed three of the group=92s senior leaders=
to =

leave Gaza through the country=92s territory =97 to meet the group=92s chie=
f in =

Beirut =97 something no Hamas official had been allowed to do since last =

summer=92s military-backed ouster of President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt.

Founded nearly a decade ahead of Hamas, Islamic Jihad has long shunned =

electoral politics to focus on military resistance to the Israeli =

occupation. Now, analysts say that because it is backed by Iranian funds an=
d =

free of any burden of governing, Islamic Jihad has been able to assert =

itself as the main military expression of Palestinian nationalism, while =

Hamas is partly blamed by a restive population for rampant unemployment and =

daily shortfalls of fuel, electricity and water.

There is scant ideological space between the two movements. While some =

characterize Islamic Jihad as a rival Hamas struggles to control, leaders o=
f =

both groups, as well as independent analysts, say they are coordinated and =

complementary. As Hamas has suffered from severed ties with Syria, Iran and =

Egypt, Islamic Jihad has maintained relations with all three and increased =

its activity in Gaza.

=93They are a very distant second to Hamas in military power, in supporters=
, =

in civil society, in every dimension of strength that you could think of, =

but they=92re growing for sure,=94 said Nathan Thrall of the International =

Crisis Group, who wrote a recent report on Gaza. =94They have similar visio=
ns =

and strategic ideas. Some of the tension comes from the fact that Islamic =

Jihad doesn=92t govern Gaza and doesn=92t really suffer the consequences. T=
hey=92re =

ready to attack Israel all day long.=94

Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Al-Quds Brigades who =97 like the 25-year-old =

commander, Abu Malek =97 agreed to an interview on the condition that he be =

identified only by his nickname, declined to say how many fighters it =

enlists or how much they are paid. He was quoted by Reuters in 2011 saying =

the Gaza force was 8,000 strong.

A senior intelligence official with the Israel Defense Forces put the numbe=
r =

at half that, compared with 10,000 for the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, =

Hamas=92s armed wing. Together, he said, the two groups have manufactured 2=
00 =

rockets capable of reaching Tel Aviv, 10 times the number they possessed tw=
o =

years ago, though such estimates could not be verified and could be part of =

an effort to emphasize the threats Israel faces.

Hamas officials were clearly irked last month when Islamic Jihad announced =

it had worked directly with Egypt=92s new military-backed government, which =

deemed Hamas a terrorist group, to restore calm with Israel. But Islamic =

Jihad leaders, operating from exile in Damascus, have also tried to smooth =

relations between Hamas and Iran after a parting over the Syrian civil war.

=93They are trying to walk on a very thin line between Israel and Hamas and =

the Iranian pressure in the background,=94 the Israeli intelligence officia=
l =

said. =93They do not want to embarrass Hamas.=94

Hamas, he added, =93finds itself in a very complicated situation,=94 concer=
ned =

that Islamic Jihad=92s aggression risks unwanted escalation with Israel, =
=93but =

they do not want to be considered or portrayed as the government that =

limited the resistance, so they prefer to talk with them and to coordinate =

with them.=94

Islamic Jihad on Defending Gaza

Abu Malek, 25, the commander of a band of Al-Quds Brigades =97 the armed wi=
ng =

of Islamic Jihad =97 discusses his troops=92 readiness to respond to any Is=
raeli =

incursions.

Islamic Jihad was created in 1979 by Palestinian students at Egyptian =

universities who were inspired by Iran=92s Islamic revolution, and =

disillusioned that the Muslim Brotherhood =97 from which Hamas spun off yea=
rs =

later =97 was not focused enough on Palestine. Its founder, Fathi Shikaki, =
was =

assassinated by Israeli agents in Malta in 1995; in some Gaza precincts, hi=
s =

picture is more prominent than that of the Hamas prime minister.

The United States designated Islamic Jihad a terrorist organization in 1997=
. =

The secretary general, Ramadan Shallah, who is on the F.B.I.=92s most wante=
d =

list, said in a 2009 interview that he would never =93accept the existence =
of =

the state of Israel,=94 and that =93our sacred duty is to fight.=94

The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found 5 percent of =

Gaza residents supporting Islamic Jihad in December and 4 percent in March, =

up from 1 to 3 percent in recent years. =93It=92s always been an elitist gr=
oup,=94 =

said the center=92s director, Khalil Shikaki, who is also Fathi Shikaki=92s =

brother. =93It appealed more to the educated youth rather than to the older =

generation or to the mass of people.=94

Abu Malek, the field commander, said he joined at 18 because of Islamic =

Jihad=92s =93pioneering ideology=94 promoting =93the liberation of all Pale=
stine =

from the sea to the river.=94 He says he teaches sixth grade at a Hamas-run =

school and studies for a master=92s in Arabic by day, but goes to the field =

every night after the last of Islam=92s five daily prayers, remaining until =

the dawn call for the first.

His men stood amid scrawny trees, one with arms folded, another holding his =

automatic rifle. A third shouldered a rocket-propelled grenade. The field, =

in southwest Gaza City, is rimmed by apartment blocks. It sits about 600 =

yards behind a restaurant and gas station on the main beachfront road.

One recent night, Abu Malek said, an Israeli bomb landed nearby. =93We =

remained spread because it is dangerous to go to the place immediately,=94 =
he =

recalled. =93But in case an invasion follows the airplane, we will get read=
y =

to counter.=94

The armed wing remains Islamic Jihad=92s priority, but its civic activities =

have been swelling. Daoud Shihab, the chief spokesman =97 who, like Abu Ahm=
ed, =

operates from an unmarked office above a store selling strollers and toys =
=97 =

said the movement planned to build a cardiac hospital in central Gaza and =

four clinics. Those projects have been delayed by Egypt=92s shutdown of =

smuggling tunnels and Israel=92s ban on import of concrete and steel.

Islamic Jihad runs three private elementary schools and is planning three =

more, Mr. Shihab said. The group has doubled its kindergartens to 100 in th=
e =

past five years; at one in Gaza City=92s Zeitoun neighborhood recently, som=
e =

of the 700 students alternated between chanting Quranic verses and singing =

the A B C=92s.

Above the bustling market in Shejaya, an Islamic Jihad stronghold, sits one =

of the movement=92s 12 reconciliation centers, where middle-aged men in =

religious robes mediate disputes between families. Omar Farra, a mosque =

preacher and the movement=92s leader, said the men resolved hundreds of cas=
es =

a year, much quicker than the Hamas courts.

After a woman died in childbirth, her family demanded about $35,000 from th=
e =

doctor. Mediators persuaded the family to accept $24,000, but the doctor =

would pay only about $21,000, so Islamic Jihad bridged the gap.=93What is m=
ore =

important for us is to make the reconciliation,=94 Mr. Farra explained, =93=
so we =

paid.=94

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA =

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